1.Difference with University and high school

The thing that was most significant to me was he absolute fact that high school and University are so different. Midterms in university are so much more stressful because well, our future hangs in the balance of us doing well. On top of that, the material taught in class is a lot heavier than the stuff thrown at us back in high school. Ever notice people walking in and out of class as they please? Well, guess what, you’re aloud to do that in university. Compared to high school, having to raise your hand to go to the bathroom, unable to leave the class without a pass and a teacher’s permission.

2.You got to want it to win it.

It can be hard to readjust to the new lifestyle when going from high school to university. Especially the maintenance of good grades. In university, you’ll soon realise you’ve got to put in so much effort if you want to do well. Overall, if you want to do well, you’ve got to do everything you can, don’t do things half fast and hope to do alright.

3.How easy it is to lose hope.

After going through all my midterms, I realised that it’s easy to lose faith in your abilities if you don’t get the grades you we’re expecting. University is a transition and we need to learn to adjust, yes it can take some time, but it does not mean we need to give up. Eventually you’ll understand that getting let’s say a “c” in high school is bad but in university it can be a good thing. Just have a little faith. 🙂

4.Organisation

Being organised in university is honestly such a blessing. After going through my midterms, I realised I need to organise my studying time a lot better. The ones I prepared myself for we’re the ones I did best in. It may not seem useful but planning out your day and when you need to study can be more motivating to get stuff done.

5.The high amount of stress

Many of you who have gone through exams know how stressful it is. The stress level is particularly high when you have multiple exams in the same time frame. It feels like you don’t have a second to yourself, like you barely have time to breath or feel relax. Some of you may even feel bad for getting some extra sleep because instead you feel as though you should study.

6.Variety of midterms

You’ll soon realise that midterms can be extremely different from one class to another.It usually depends on the professors teaching style. You’ll have some midterms that contain 4 development questions that take you 30 minutes to answer or 45 multiple choice questions that take you an hour to finish. Both styles can be good, it all depends on how much you studied and understand what you’ve learnt. People normally like the multiple choices when they don’t remember what they learnt because at least they have a ¼ chance of getting the right answer. However, open questions are good for earning extra points, because you can write so much information that proves you know the subject well.

Chelsea Mallory

Studying psychology at the university of Ottawa! Engaging and love meeting new poeple